Sundial Group Announced as Living Wage Champion

Sundial Group has been chosen as the winner of the Living Wage Employer Champion Award 2015 for the East Midlands region.

Part of Living Wage Week 2015 (1st-7th November), the awards are organised by the Living Wage Foundation and celebrate employers and individuals that have made great contributions to communities and industries by implementing the life changing importance of the Living Wage.

The award-winning hospitality group, which owns three conference venues, Highgate House in Northamptonshire, Woodside in Warwickshire and Barnett Hill in Surrey, has been recognised for championing the Living Wage within the hospitality sector.

Managing Director, Tim Chudley, has also been personally awarded for his outstanding leadership and commitment to driving the Living Wage campaign, receiving the Leadership award for the East Midlands.

Sundial’s Surrey based venue, Barnett Hill, became the first accredited hotel and conference centre in the UK to pay the Living Wage earlier in March. Its Northamptonshire based team building company, Teamscapes, and venue finding agency, Sundial SOS, also became accredited. Furthermore, the group is committed to the accreditation for its other venues in the next two years.

As much as 70 per cent of London-based employees in the hospitality industry are paid below the living wage, while the UK-wide figure is 65 per cent. Tim Chudley remains at the forefront of this movement to help raise awareness and encourage further take up of better pay within the hospitality industry.

Living Wage Foundation Acting Director, Sarah Vero, said:

“Congratulations to Sundial Group and to Tim Chudley on becoming Living Wage Champion Award winners. With 2,000 employers now signed up, it is wonderful to have Sundial leading the way in the East Midlands. The leadership of responsible employers is making a profound difference in the lives of families and communities across the UK. Thank you very much for celebrating the Living Wage.”

Commenting on the awards, Tim Chudley said:

"On behalf of Sundial Group, I am absolutely thrilled to receive these awards as a representative of the hospitality industry. I think the hospitality sector has been dragging its heels about paying their frontline people as professionals and people that really drive the customer journey and satisfaction. I think it’s time that everyone in hotels and hospitality started paying their people properly.”